How does Bill Naughton create andsustain a sense of conflict in the play 'Spring and Portwine'.
How does Bill Naughton create and sustain a sense of conflict in the play 'Spring and Portwine'.
The play 'Spring and Portwine' revolves around the underlying conflicts that exist within a working class family from Lancashire in the 1960s. The whole play centres on an argument about one of the daughter's refusal to eat herring that is always served on a Friday evening. The reactions of all members of the family to this insignificant incident bring all their problems and dissatisfaction to a head. At the end of the play, the family feud has reached a climax but the disintegration of the family is narrowly avoided. It is interesting that this is mainly due to the strong character of the father, Rafe, and it was that strong character who had created much of the conflict in the first place. The play is concentrated in two acts, which show the events of four days within a single household. The Cromptons are a working class family living in a small semi detached house in the suburbs of Bolton.
Immediately, from the beginning of the play, you can feel that tension within the family is inevitable because of the claustrophobic nature of the set. The whole play takes place within three rooms, the living room, the scullery and the kitchen, which are all shown together on the stage. This is a key factor, locking the family in a confined space from where there is no escape for any one to have any privacy within the house. Four teenage children and two adults in a cramped household does not bode well for harmony. Because of the closeness and intimacy of the family due to the small set, the audience is able to see the feelings of each member of the family far easier.
Rafe is the father of the family. Bill Naughton has cleverly scripted the play so that you have an understanding of Rafe's character before he enters the stage. In fact, he does not enter the stage until a quarter of the way through Act I. Before he enters, the various comments from the family's and neighbour's conversations give you an insight into his character. He is the head of the Crompton household and believes that everybody under his roof should abide by his rules and do as he says. He likes order and control and appears to have everyone's respect, or even fear. We are given a picture of a domineering and old fashioned man with high family morals. "You know how he likes everything to be just so", is one of the first comments about her husband by Daisy.
Betsy Jane, the "neighbourly slattern" enters in Scene One, asking Daisy if she can borrow some money for the TV licence. She makes the comment "they are always talking about you and him with his domineering ways." This gives the impression that Rafe is not popular amongst fellow neighbours. This also shows that people believe the family is not happy and that there is tension between them. Wilfred, Rafe's son, shows that there are lies and deceits in the family and that they keep things from Rafe, "What he doesn't know, won't keep him awake."
Rafe feels ...
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Betsy Jane, the "neighbourly slattern" enters in Scene One, asking Daisy if she can borrow some money for the TV licence. She makes the comment "they are always talking about you and him with his domineering ways." This gives the impression that Rafe is not popular amongst fellow neighbours. This also shows that people believe the family is not happy and that there is tension between them. Wilfred, Rafe's son, shows that there are lies and deceits in the family and that they keep things from Rafe, "What he doesn't know, won't keep him awake."
Rafe feels very strongly about keeping to the same routine every day, every week of every year. "That's a woman's job" is an example of how working class families lived in the 1960s. He feels a woman should always be a housewife and the man should be the provider. He is very stubborn and never accepts anything that some-one else says to be correct, frustrating the younger generation.
As soon as he enters in Act I, he immediately condemns everything that is said to him. He is very negative and puts down everything his children say or do. He does all the talking, constantly going on about how hard it was in the old days and how easy everyone has it today. One of his strongest weapons against the children is his quiet, controlled and calm voice, even when angry. In fact, silent communication is a key factor in increasing the feeling of tension and conflict. There are lots of knowing looks between the children when their father is speaking. There is an undertone of increasing tension with no-one being able to openly discuss their views and problems in order to find a solution, creating an image of a volcano throbbing with heat, waiting to explode.
The build up of tension increases slowly throughout the play. The slow pace of the play with the enactment of boring daily routines and family discussions almost mirrors the way that the tensions have been slowly building up and brewing for years. There are no sensational occurrences that would distract the audience and make them concentrate more on a dramatic storyline than the emotions and relationships between the members of the family.
The catalyst that shows the extent of the Crompton family conflict, the herring incident, is not an argument over something major, but is a culmination of everyone's dissatisfaction with having to obey their father without question. This is a small, minor difference of opinion and it shows just what it takes for a family argument to explode - very realistic. Hilda comes home from a party one Friday evening, having had a few glasses of wine. Religiously every Friday night, herrings are served at the Crompton household. Full of Dutch courage, Hilda refuses to eat them. Rafe is adamant that she eats them, "what sort of state do you think the world would be in if you left everybody to their taste?" as he thinks that everybody should have the same, as his kitchen is not a cafeteria. The difference between the attitudes of the generations, young and old, is clearly shown here with Rafe sticking to his old fashioned, regimented ways. This tiny disagreement escalates into a family feud and nearly destroys the Crompton family. Rafe feels that this minor incident is hugely important in determining whose standards will prevail in his home, his children's or his. If his children win on this issue his authority will diminish. "If your children once beat you - you're licked for good."
Hilda, as stubborn as her father, refuses to eat the herring. Rafe acknowledges her strong self willed nature when he says, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." He sets a rule that, until she eats one herring she cannot eat anything else. Bill Naughton manages to sustain the sense of conflict between Hilda and her father by inflicting this punishment on her. This may sound harsh and cruel, making your daughter starve to death. But Rafe was not that type of person. It is only that he insists that while she lives in her father's house she has to live by his standards. From later text we realise that Rafe knew that her mother was secretly feeding Hilda. He also had no intention of taking it too far. This also shows the real depth of Rafe's heart and feelings. He was only doing this to prove to his children you sometimes have to do something that you don't want to do.
The punishment that Hilda has to suffer lasts for three of the four days the play is based on. It builds up the tension and after one evening she storms out of the house refusing to come back. It influences the behaviour of her brothers and sisters, all of whom have to witness this argument every day. They feel it is harsh and that Hilda is being unfairly treated. Wilfred even tries to help his sister by feeding the herring to the cat. Before this, Wilfred was very understanding of his father's actions and was loyal to him. As the play goes on, you see Wilfred start to mature as he creates his own opinions, which brews more tension within the family. He begins to question his father's wisdom. He takes matters into his own hand, being disloyal to his father for the first time by feeding the herring to the cat.
Arthur, Florence's boyfriend, is one of the two characters in the play not from the Crompton family. Arthur's presence is another factor towards the increase in tension within the household. Not only is Rafe trying to get one of his daughters to eat a herring to show that he is in control while lies and deceits are happening behind his back, he is also trying to stop another of his daughters from leaving home and marrying someone he disapproves of. Florence has the internal conflict of deciding whether to leave her father whom she loves and respects and to go with Arthur whom she loves, or to stay at home. Arthur is not afraid to express his opinions of Rafe and gives an outsider's point of view. He knows how the rest of the family feels about Rafe and tells Rafe what he thinks of the herring incident. "My folk are nothing but they would never dare to do a thing like that." Arthur's presence and comments create more conflict and tension, making the disruption of the family greater.
Daisy, Rafe's wife, is typical of a housewife in the 1960s, in charge of the household chores and housekeeping money, but without any say in discipline or decisions to do with the family. In the first scene we see her lend money to Betsy Jane, which is typical of her kind hearted nature, despite being a loyal wife to Rafe and knowing that he would not approve. However, Betsy Jane does not pay the money back and Daisy is five pounds short on the weekly housekeeping money due to the loan. She needs to find the money quickly so that further conflict is avoided. She tries to break into Rafe's drawer to steal some money but fails.
Earlier in the play, Rafe had bought a new coat, which cost a lot of money. The children considered this a selfish act, especially as each of them had to pay a portion of their wages to the house for their rent. Hilda wants to go to London, "up the smoke", but the family has no money. Daisy is so kind hearted she decides to pawn Rafe's coat to get some money for Hilda, hoping she could buy the coat back later. The stress and feeling of conflict is increased as Daisy tries to keep Rafe's mind off the coat so he does not notice it has gone. This epitomises the lack of honesty between all members of the household and their inability to talk to each other about the problems and worries that they have.
When Rafe decides to go for a walk to the Messiah, and Wilfred and Harold suggest he wears his new coat, Daisy insists it is not cold enough for a coat. This makes Rafe very suspicious, finally finding out that his coat has gone. Here Rafe's character changes. Instead of lashing out with punishments and abuse, he is calm and loving. He offers to comfort Daisy and love her. "Don't you realise I love you for all your faults? I wouldn't want to change you for anything............ I haven't made you go in fear of me, have I lass?"
The tension starts to be released at this point when we see a different and completely unexpected side of Rafe's character. From Rafe's actions in the first scene many of the audience would have expected him to be furious when he found out, as he appeared to be a domineering, bullying father. He sums it up towards the end by saying, "you must forgive me. I drove you to it. I tried to do good by force and force seems to blind a man." The destruction of the family is prevented as Rafe shows his true heart and the family agree never to lie and keep secrets from each other again. Bill Naughton used the build up over the four days to this climax of the incident with the coat. Instead of a tragedy, the play has a happy ending with the family having resolved all their issues with the new confidence that they will remain a strong family unit.
CHRISTIAN WIMSHURST
